Contentions

Could it be that the mainstream media is downplaying the anti-Zelaya forces?

If you don’t know what you’re talking about, it’s better to keep quiet: “President Obama’s Wednesday night criticism of Cambridge, Mass., police has drawn a rebuke from the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). . . . Jim Pasco, executive director of the FOP’s legislative office, noted that before Obama made the remarks, the president acknowledged that he was only vaguely familiar with what happened. ‘That being the case, it’s unfortunate that he chose to say anything,’ Pasco said. ‘He wasn’t there, and he doesn’t know what happened.’ ”

Robert Gibbs thinks we are stupid and didn’t notice the president calling the Cambridge police officer stupid. And then the president sort of, but not really, backs down. Maybe a simple “I’m sorry” would be in order.

And he can issue an apology to the doctors too. They don’t like being told they are performing unnecessary procedures to run up their bills. (Hmm, if ObamaCare goes through, there will be more of that.)

If nothing else, Obama “created his own distraction.” The Hill’s blog explains: “It’s a distraction that won’t be a one-day story, either. When, after admitting he doesn’t know all the facts, the president of the United States says an American citizen acted ‘stupidly,’ the media will dissect every angle to death. And every media outlet under the sun will clamor for an interview with the officer in question. . . . When it’s all said and done, the press conference did nothing to advance Obama’s health-care legislation. In effect, that means it hurt its chances. Remember that when Obama tries to lay the blame on others.”

The good news for Obama is that not so many people watched: “Obama’s press conference last night drew 24.7 million viewers across broadcast and cable, according to Nielsen. That’s a 14 percent drop from the April 29 prime-time presser, and 50 percent less than the first one of his presidency.”

You know a Democratic president has bombed when the New York Timesfocus groups give him thumbs down: “They say they feel they are being asked to buy on spec from a government they do not trust. And they have lots of questions.”

The Democrats discover that Sen. Barbara Boxer is a liability: “A big chunk of the House climate change bill is in the hands of Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer — and some of its supporters are worried that she’s not up to the task. In private conversations, Senate staffers say that Boxer’s abrasive personal style helped tank the climate bill that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and former Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) sponsored last year. And several recent embarrassing episodes involving the California Democrat have them worried about a repeat performance.”

The Blue Dogs refuse to roll over: “Blue Dog Democrats, two White House officials and Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) left a multihour meeting Thursday afternoon in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) office without a resolution to the deadlock holding up the party’s $1.6 trillion health care bill.”

Politico speculates that once they head out of town, ObamaCare becomes even less viable: “The delay opens the most ambitious legislative initiative in more than 40 years to a month of fierce scrutiny as special-interest groups ramp up what was already expected to be a firestorm of ads, organizing and lobbying. Democrats will head home without a single plan to promote, complicating efforts to counter a suddenly more cohesive Republican opposition built around the plan’s trillion-dollar price tag.”

The gap is certainly narrowing. Pollster.com shows his approval rating at 54 percent and his disapproval at 42.1 percent.

From the latest Fox poll: “On health care, 43 percent of Americans say they approve of the job the president is doing and 45 percent disapprove. On the economy, 50 percent approve and 43 percent disapprove. Americans put fixing the economy (36 percent) as the top priority for the federal government right now, followed by creating jobs (21 percent). Reducing the deficit (12 percent) and reforming health care (12 percent) receive the same double-digit support, followed by handling the situation with Iran and North Korea (7 percent).”

By a margin of 47-36 percent in Fox’s survey, voters oppose the current health-care reform bill. Similarly, Rasmussen has voters disapproving by a 53-44 percent margin.